DUI DEATHS IN STATE NEARING 5-YEAR HIGH.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

With statewide drunk-driving fatalities expected to reach a five-year high in 2004, authorities have boosted their DUI enforcement for the holidays and will use state grants to increase sobriety checkpoints in 2005.

Statewide, alcohol-related fatalities increased 17 percent from 2000 to 2003 - from 1,233 to 1,445. During the first six months of 2004, the California Highway Patrol recorded 944 DUI fatalities, putting the state on track to surpass last year's final total.

The situation is different in Los Angeles. The city averages 36 DUI-related fatalities each year, but through Oct. 31 had recorded only 12. In the San Fernando Valley, which averages about 10 deaths per year, five were recorded during the first 10 months.

Still, the statewide problem prompted advocates against drunk driving to call for increased enforcement and expanded efforts to make drivers behave responsibly.

``It's extremely disappointing that deaths relating to impaired driving crashes are on the rise again,'' said Tina Pasco, the executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Los Angeles. ``The stats mean that (families) are torn apart simply because somebody chooses to drive after drinking.''

CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said the numbers are disturbing, and that drivers can expect a phalanx of patrolmen on the highways for the holiday and beyond.

``We're very much alarmed. That's one reason why we're stepping up enforcement during the holiday period,'' said CHP Commissioner Mike Brown. ``It's frustrating. We've made great strides over the last decade or so and we don't want it to be reversal of that trend.''

Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Ron Marbrey, who heads the Valley Traffic Division, attributed the drop to strong public education campaigns, regular enforcement efforts, task forces and DUI checkpoints.

``We're going to do everything we can to continue to improve. These are senseless tragedies that could easily be prevented if people take the responsibility not to drink and drive.''

The LAPD will post a sobriety checkpoint at Van Nuys Boulevard and Haddon Avenue in Pacoima from 6:30 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday, with motorcycle officers out in force.

Additionally, a team of five Valley Traffic officers will continue to work a year-old habitual DUI offender program, monitoring the activities of some 700 Valley residents who have at least two drunk-driving convictions, including 200 who have three or more DUI convictions.

So far this year, the team has arrested 52 people, including six on suspicion of their their fourth DUI offenses.

Six others were arrested for investigation of violating the conditions of their parole. Forty others were arrested on suspicion of violating probation and driving on suspended licenses - all misdemeanors.

Exacerbating the problem, police say, is a cost-cutting program by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca that allows the early release of jail inmates convicted of misdemeanors - including DUI. The Sheriff's Department said 4,700 convicted drunk drivers were given early release between December 2002 and February 2004, the latest statistics available.

``They're in and out,'' said LAPD Officer Doug Gerst, who works the habitual-DUI program. ``But the positive effect is that once they're arrested, they're aware they're being monitored. And they are advised that they will continue to be monitored when they're released.''

The LAPD is set to receive $347,200 from the state in 2005 for sobriety checkpoints, part of $4.7 million in grants from the state's Office of Traffic Safety for 155 police departments.

And CHP officers will be out in force this month, especially between Christmas and New Year's Day, which is considered a maximum enforcement period.

``All available uniformed officers will be out on the roads looking for impaired drivers and any other unsafe driving practices,'' said CHP Officer Leland Tang, based in Woodland Hills. ``We take it seriously every year. We want to make it a safe holiday for everybody.''

The boosted enforcement comes as the Automobile Club of Southern California released its first-ever analysis of holiday DUI-related crashes, finding that alcohol-related serious and fatal crashes more than double during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

``It really was a surprise because of how large the increase is,'' said Steve Bloch, a senior research associate for AAA. ``People have to figure out how to get home. Often they don't think about that beforehand.''

The holidays are especially tough for Chatsworth resident Ed Paull, 60, whose daughter, Barbara, an aspiring medical student, was killed at age 19 by a drunk driver Jan. 6, 1994, on Roscoe Boulevard.

``I think about her at least every day,'' he said. ``You go on with your life, but it doesn't go away. You always ask, 'What if?' She'd be 29 now. What would life be like? Would I have any grandchildren?''

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Above, Stephanie Tourikian, left, and Barbara Paull were killed in the same crash caused by a drunk driver on Jan. 6, 1994. At right, Ed Paull holds a photo of his daughter, Barbara, who was killed by a drunk driver in 1994.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box:

DRUNK-DRIVING FATALITIES

SOURCE: California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department

Daily News